Re-engineering

by dark ganymede

VI

"What are they then?"

Clockwork eyed his creation and began to examine all of Spark's mechanical features. He built him, he had the right to look. He also had the right to own the stallion that stood before him.

"You could call them facts. Anyway I brought you here to give you your mission a bit more personally this time. That and I don't want the rest of your brigade interfering."

"Why not? They can get it done."

"Yes, but you can get it done faster. Quite a pity you still don't know your full potential yet. Regardless of that, you'll leave here the same way you came and head to section three. Don't worry about being spotted, it's got cybernetics everywhere. Think of it like a field trip."

"What am I looking for there? Intel? Holo-scroll?"

"Intel, and more specifically a holo-map. Once you retrieve it open it and place your hoof in the center. You will know what to do from there. Now off you go."

Spark felt his eyelids start to sag and he closed them, thinking that by pleasing them hopefully they would stop irritating him. He reopened his eyes, and miraculously to say the least, he was back outside of Clockwork’s sector. It was amazing that such an inconspicuous pony like him, would have access to such advanced technology as a warper. Then again did that sort of tech even exist? He started to scrape the bowels of his mind for any information regarding the subject but he found none. Oddly enough in this search, he started to realize just how organized his mind was.

Not a single one of the creatures that surrounded him even bothered to pay the slightest bit of attention to the silver colored cytech who seemed to be lost in his surroundings.

He started to regain his bearings as his field of view shifted from the interesting marks on the ground, to the only path to sector one. A monorail. While he squinted his eyes at the tiny station at the end of the sector, a clear square with a bold black outline accented the station on the HUD. The smaller image eventually expanded into a full "screen" view of the said station. From this new viewpoint he felt like he could touch it's glass windows and holographic arrival and departure schedule. In a more perverse thought, he realized he could touch the rather curvacious mare that was in the rather long line.

His cybernetic hooves clopped across the asphalt floor as he made his way over to the station. After a few minutes of walking he reached the station and found the same mare, at the same window.

“Hi, how may I help you?”

She had a cold expression on her face, considerably strange since workers like her were supposed to be cheerful sort.

“One ticket to sector one. The fourteen o’ clock rail.”

The mare nodded and a pulled a ticket from the bottom of her counter, sliding it through the rather filthy slit in the glass window.

“Here you go.”

He looked at the ticket in disgust, already presuming it was just as filthy as the window and frankly, the rest of the station. It's tiled flooring was misaligned in several places, with dust filling the uneven crevices between each cracked tile. The walls had accumulated quite a bit of mold about them, and their putrid smell could have easily put any normal pony in a coma. Immune to the general disorder that cluttered the station Spark levitated his ticket and exited the place of business.

Upon exiting what he now deemed to be a pathetic structure he spotted the waiting area for the rail. It was completely deserted but unlike its accompanying station it was clean like the rest of the sector's streets. There was a lone black bench that faced the rail track and considering no one else was around he took a seat.

As his metallic body pressed against the bench a holographic display featuring everything from the time, temperature, and even the latest in tabloid news appeared. The time was shown in a cool blue with simplistic numerals, while the temperature was displayed in an out of place green. Spark glanced at the time in his HUD and felt a slight sense of superiority over the same hologram.

Deep down he must have felt slightly guilty about looking down on something, be it organic or machine, but this time he didn't feel bad at all. He was right, he was the superior being. That didn't mean it was an excuse to act like it right? However, he wasn't acting like that in the first place so what was the problem?

The hologram faded out of sight as Spark felt the ground begin to shake rather violently. He watched in awe as the rail tracks shot up into the air to keep the rail so high in the air. Without warning, the waiting area flew up in the air to meet with the stationary train. He slid out of the bench and landed on the ground with a thump, breaking his concentration and causing his grime encrusted ticket to fall to the ground. He carefully and disdainfully picked up the ticket and carried to the train. As the train shone in the light with it's bright white coat of paint and it's reflective windows, an orange changeling slid open the two doors and took Spark's ticket without question, paying no attention to it's filth and placing it a blue carrying bag where presumably the rest of the tickets lay.

Satisfied, the changeling guided the new passenger to one of the many seats that the train held. Considering the time of day it didn't come as a surprise to see nopony else on the train. Anyone who would have normally been on the train had probably made it to their destination already and were enjoying a meal. When was the last time he eat anyway? A few days ago? No matter, a helping of bullets and magic was enough to satisfy him.

As he took his seat he felt the train glide forward on it's magnetic rail, and it became evident that every chair or bench from here on out had some sort of sensor in it. He could have easily been wrong in his assumption having never even visited the capital before, but why not take a guess.

After tiring of fantasising about Sector one's amenities the fleeting scenery became much more interesting. The skyscrapers and the occasional bodies of water that separated the wealthier sectors flew by quickly, but so quick that he noticed just how bad his sector was in comparison to the rest. And strangely enough, his was above average, a good sector. These sectors, they were so complex and large, royal even. Stranger still, they weren't monotonous like the rest of the poorer sectors, they were unique and styled. And this was only sector fifty.

Comments

[Cyber V]

still good to see this story still going.

[StoneCap55LWP23]

So far I think this is a good story, but at first it went a little too fast for my liking but that isn't a problem for me. However, I'm still waiting for answers, a lot of answers, like why was his building attacked, why was he killed, why haven't he tried contacting Cloudkicker yet, who are the mercs he's working for, and why does he not have a drive to ask questions especially about the people who killed after "waking" up in a new body, especially after Clockwork asked him if he remembers being shot, and a lot more questions that needs context. I hope to see these questions answered in future chapters along with more world building because to me on a scale it's a step up or two from bland. Sorry if I make this sounds like I nitpicking too much here I just want to see the world, atmosphere, and story to have a little more "life" to it. But I am enjoying your story regardless and keep it up.